bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2019–08–04
eleven papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. J Paediatr Child Health. 2019 Jul 31.
      
    Keywords:  digital health literacy; eHealth literacy; health promotion; information seeking behaviour; parent
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14575
  2. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019 Jul 31.
       PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Anaphylaxis is a systemic allergic reaction and without the appropriate treatment can progress fast and may be fatal. Information about allergy and immunology topics including anaphylaxis can be easily found online and are widely searched by patients as well as medical personnel. Social media and search engines not only bring a number of benefits to users but also carry risks for breaches of confidentiality and privacy, unprofessional behaviour, malpractice and litigation. Social media use by medical healthcare workers has liability risks and can result in malpractice.
    RECENT FINDINGS: We used PubMed with the terms anaphylaxis; social network; mobile apps that revealed a very small number of publications addressing the use of these platforms and anaphylaxis. Google Trends and KWFinder were used to analyse the relative search interest and absolute search volumes on 'anaphylaxis'.
    SUMMARY: Multiple sources exist on the Internet for health-related searches for both healthcare providers and patients. We analysed different websites, mobile apps, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. To avoid any posting of patient identifiers, it is imperative to be aware of the 18 HIPAA identifiers. We list websites with accurate information about anaphylaxis for the use of both patients and healthcare professionals for purposes of patient education. Further research on health information-seeking behaviour is clearly needed.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1097/ACI.0000000000000575
  3. Adv Physiol Educ. 2019 Sep 01. 43(3): 383-391
      Medical students increasingly utilize social media platforms to supplement their preclinical learning; however, the prevalence of social media use for physiology learning in medical education remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine how first-year medical students from both direct entry medicine and graduate entry medicine interacted with social media as a learning tool by assessing its prevalence, perceived benefits, favored platforms, and reason(s) for its use. Seventy-one percent of surveyed students (out of 139 participants) stated that they interacted with social media in general more than 12 times per week. However, 98% had previously used internet platforms to source physiology information, with 89.2% doing so at least once per week during term. YouTube was the primary source of learning for 76% of students. Significantly, 94% of students indicated that they would first search for answers online if they did not understand something in physiology rather than contacting their instructor in person or by e-mail. However, only 31% of students "fact-checked" physiology information obtained from online sources, by using textbooks, papers, and/or instructors. Our study has revealed that most preclinical medical students utilize social media extensively to study physiology. However, the absence of academic and ethical oversight, paired with students' lack of critical appraisal of possibly inaccurate information, does raise concerns about the overall utility of social media as part of physiology education.
    Keywords:  YouTube; fact-checking; physiology; preclinical medical students; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00070.2019
  4. PM R. 2019 Jul 30.
       INTRODUCTION: Patients are increasingly using the Internet to access health information. Patient awareness and education are crucial to advancing the field of PM&R, but many U.S. adults have insufficient health literacy skills to read and understand patient education materials (PEM), frequently written at the 10th -15th -grade level. Reading ability is key for health literacy, but no previous research has assessed the readability of PEM provided by professional PM&R societies.
    OBJECTIVES: Evaluate whether the readability of PM&R PEM meets the NIH-recommended 8th -grade reading level; compare readability of PM&R PEM to two commonly accessed patient resources for sports and rehabilitation medicine topics, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), whose readability has been previously analyzed.
    DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
    SETTING: Websites sanctioned by professional PM&R societies, AAOS, and AAFP.
    MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) formulas, which estimate U.S. grade level, or years of education, needed to comprehend text.
    RESULTS: A total of 167 online PM&R resources were identified and compared to 94 articles from AAOS and 65 from AAFP. Mean SMOG and FKGL levels exceeded the 8th -grade level for both PM&R (SMOG-9.71, 95%CI 9.42-10.0; FKGL-10.35, 95%CI 9.99-10.7) and AAOS (SMOG-9.15, 95%CI 8.96-9.35; FKGL-9.51, 95%CI 9.29-9.74), while AAFP met readability guidelines for both measures (SMOG-7.00, 95%CI 6.74-7.27; FKGL-6.76, 95%CI 6.45-7.07). SMOG and FKGL scores suggested significantly higher reading difficulty for PM&R compared to AAOS (SMOG p=0.017; FKGL p=0.0001) and AAFP (SMOG p<0.0001; FKGL p<0.0001). 17% of PM&R resources complied with NIH guidelines, vs. 8% for AAOS and 83% for AAFP.
    CONCLUSIONS: The average readability of PM&R PEM exceeds the NIH-recommended and average U.S. adult 8th -grade reading level. The physiatry community can make its patient materials more comprehensible and accessible for patients by providing resources at a more appropriate reading level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  Health Literacy; Patient Education; Readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/pmrj.12230
  5. BMC Public Health. 2019 Jul 31. 19(1): 1024
       BACKGROUND: Since there is a paucity of research on support for people using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS), we aimed to identify and synthesise the available evidence in this field. Gaining an understanding of the support both accessed and wanted by recreational AAS users will be of use to professionals who provide services to intravenous substance users and also to those working in the fields of public health and social care, with the aim to increase engagement of those using AAS.
    METHODS: A systematic scoping review of the literature to explore and identify the nature and scope of information and support both accessed and wanted by non-prescribed AAS users. Any support services or information designed to help people who use AAS were considered.
    RESULTS: We identified 23 papers and one report for review, which indicated that AAS users access a range of sources of information on: how to inject, substance effectiveness, dosages and side effects, suggesting this is the type of information users want. AAS users sought support from a range of sources including medical professionals, needle and syringe programmes, friends, dealers, and via the internet, suggesting that, different sources were used dependent on the information or support sought.
    DISCUSSION: AAS users tended to prefer peer advice and support over that of professionals, and access information online via specialist forums, reflecting the stigma that is experienced by AAS users. These tendencies can act as barriers to accessing services provided by professionals.
    CONCLUSIONS: Support needs to be specific and targeted towards AAS users. Sensitivity to their perceptions of their drug-use and the associated stigma of being classified in the same sub-set as other illicit drug users is relevant to facilitating successful engagement.
    Keywords:  Advice; Androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS); Harm minimisation; Image and performance enhancing drugs (IPED); Information; Needle and syringe Programmes (NSPs); Support
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7288-x
  6. Clin Rheumatol. 2019 Aug 01.
       INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Obtaining online health-related information is becoming increasingly popular among patients. The attainment of information through websites is easy and practical, but there is no mechanism to check the accuracy and quality of this information. This leads to concerns about information from websites. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the quality and readability of ankylosing spondylitis-related websites in this study.
    METHODS: This is a descriptive study. Websites were searched on a popular search engine with the search term ankylosing spondylitis on March 2, 2019. We recorded the URLs of the first 200 websites listed in the query results. Typologies, quality, and readability were evaluated on these websites. Websites were divided into eight categories (commercial, government, health portal, news, non-profit, professional, scientific journal, and others) according to typology. The JAMA scoring system and the presence of HONcode certification were used to assess the quality. The Flesch-Kincaid grade and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook were used to evaluate the readability.
    RESULTS: Of the websites analyzed, 46% were in the high-quality group. We found that scientific journals and news were of higher quality, and commercial and other websites were of poorer quality. The average readability grades of the websites were 8.59 ± 2.42 and 7.33 ± 1.54, which were slightly worse than the recommended value. Additionally, the readability grades were significantly higher on high-quality websites (p < 0.05).
    CONCLUSION: The quality of information on websites is variable. High-quality information about ankylosing spondylitis is available online, particularly from scientific journals and news. The poor readability of websites that provide high-quality information is a problem for patients with low health literacy. Editors should take into account readability while aiming to present high-quality information on websites. Key Points • Websites have become an important source of health-related information in parallel with the increase in internet use. • Less than half of the ankylosing spondylitis-related websites (46%) were of high quality according to JAMA scores. • The average readability grades of the ankylosing spondylitis-related websites were slightly worse than the recommended values. • High-quality websites had higher readability grades. Therefore, high-quality websites may not be understood by patients with low literacy levels. • No significant difference was found between the websites on the first page (n = 10) and remaining websites (n = 102) in terms of quality and readability.
    Keywords:  Ankylosing spondylitis; Google; Information quality; Internet; Readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-019-04706-y
  7. J Pediatr Nurs. 2019 Jul 27. pii: S0882-5963(19)30176-9. [Epub ahead of print]48 82-91
       PURPOSE: There has been a sharp increase in adolescent electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, and e-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. middle and high school students. Frequent use among high school students was reported to be 27.7% in 2018, an increase of almost 8% from 2017. As yet we have only a limited understanding of adolescent perceptions of e-cigarettes and where adolescents receive information about them.
    DESIGN AND METHODS: Thirty-four adolescents from Western New York participated in semi-structured interviews. Both adolescents who had used e-cigarettes and never used e-cigarettes were included to capture a broad perspective. The interview data were analyzed using content analysis.
    RESULTS: Both adolescents who had used e-cigarettes and never used e-cigarettes acknowledged the popularity and acceptance of e-cigarettes among their peers. E-cigarettes were viewed as a healthy alternative to regular cigarettes that mimicked the appearance but were less harmful and more enjoyable. Reasons for not using e-cigarettes included harms to health, risk of addiction, and the gateway effects for other risky behaviors. Major information sources about e-cigarettes included advertisements, family, peers, social media, and the internet.
    CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent perceptions of e-cigarettes, which contribute to reasons for e-cigarette use or not use, and the sources of information that may influence those perceptions were identified.
    PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Our findings provide valuable information to guide prevention initiatives and develop interventions, particularly planning for preventive messages and effective communication methods to deliver for adolescents.
    Keywords:  Adolescent; Electronic cigarette; Information sources; Perception
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2019.07.010
  8. Trop Med Int Health. 2019 Aug 02.
       OBJECTIVE: To understand the importance of authorship and authorship position, and gauge perceptions of inappropriate authorship assignment, among authors publishing pediatric research conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
    METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods study using an online survey of both corresponding and randomly selected, non-corresponding authors who published research conducted in LMICs from 2006 to 2015 in the top four pediatric journals by Eigenfactor score. We used chi-square tests to compare responses by authors living in LMICs to authors living in high-income countries (HICs). We analyzed qualitative responses using thematic analysis.
    RESULTS: Of 1,420 potential respondents, 19.6% (n=279) completed the survey. 57% (n=159) lived in LMICs and 43% (n=120) in HICs. LMIC authors more commonly perceived first authorship as most important for their academic advancement than HIC authors (74.2% vs. 60.8%, p=0.017), while HIC authors reported last authorship as most important (25.1% vs. 38.3%, p=0.018). 65% (n=181) of respondents believed that their collaborators had been inappropriately assigned authorship positions (no difference in LMIC and HIC responses) and 32.6% (n=91) reported personally accepting inappropriate authorship positions (more common in HIC respondents, p=0.005). In qualitative data, respondents questioned the applicability of standard authorship guidelines for collaborative research conducted in LMICs.
    CONCLUSIONS: LMIC and HIC authors held different perceptions about the importance of authorship position. Reported inappropriate authorship assignment was common among both LMIC and HIC respondents. Alternatives to standard authorship criteria for research conducted in LMICs merit further studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    Keywords:  authorship; global health; pediatric; perceptions
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13295
  9. PLoS One. 2019 ;14(8): e0219992
      Knowledge bases are largely developed and utilized in academic and industrial fields, such as DBPedia, VIAF, LoC, Getty, and which are published in the Linked Data format. However, if you want to view different resources on these knowledge bases, you have to switch between different web pages from these resources. Therefore, we proposed a decentralized data hub named SinoPedia, which consists of several linked data services and can re-publish these RDF data in one platform. Firstly, these different Linked Data services include: Linked Data Transformation Service (LDTS), Linked Data Query Service (LDQS), Linked Data Publishing Service (LDPS) and Linked Data Knowledge Service (LDKS). The resource URI is the basis and core of the linked data, thus we will focus on the resource forwarding mechanism in LDPS service which can rewrite resource URI using a global and standard format among knowledge bases. Some knowledge bases were configured in SinoPedia platform in this paper. In addition to the above services, Linked Data Reasoning Service (LDRS) and Linked Data Intelligence Service (LDIS) will be added to the platform in the future. In short, all of these Linked Data Services will form the core framework in order to providing a good linked data application ecosystem.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219992
  10. Korean J Intern Med. 2019 Jul 31.
       Background/Aims: Many patients uses the internet to obtain information about their diseases. However, there is increasing concern regarding the quality of internet information. Thus, we aimed to systematically evaluate the quality of websites containing educational information about non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Korea.
    Methods: Naver, Daum, and Google search engines were searched using the term "non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" in Korean. Two reviewers independently evaluated website quality using the quality evaluation instrument (QEI), which awarded websites scores for specific information on various aspects of NAFLD, as well as a five-point Likert scale (1-5), the DISCERN instrument, and a global quality scale (GQS).
    Results: Forty-seven websites met the inclusion criteria. We found that the quality of the internet information about NAFLD is generally poor. The mean QEI score with standard deviation was 10.31 ± 5.09 (range, 4 to 22), with only 17% of websites scoring higher than 10 points. The median GQS of the websites was 2.0, with no website achieving a score of 4 or 5. The QEI score was highly associated with the GQS score (r = 0.74, p < 0.01). For each DISCERN question from question 1 to question 15, the mean score was less than 3.
    Conclusions: Overall, the internet health information for patients regarding NAFLD is poor and in need of much improvement. There is a need for institutional support, qualitative regulation of internet information, and development of an accreditation system to provide patients with internet health information of appropriate quality.
    Keywords:  Information resource guide; Internet; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2018.359